New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has joined more than 100 elected officials in New York in sending a letter to parking lot and garage owners asking them to deny overnight parking to Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles, according to the Gothamist.
The letter tells property owners to “make it known to ICE that it is not authorized to use your garages and lots.”
The request follows an incident in which Oscar Belgal, a Dominican national facing criminal charges, allegedly used his vehicle to try to strike ICE agents attempting to arrest him. Belgal was shot and wounded by agents during the confrontation. Mamdani’s letter references that episode in making the case to parking facility owners.
The letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, and most of the City Council, along with numerous other state and local Democratic officials.
Federal Response
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Hill that federal immigration enforcement would continue regardless of the mayor’s effort to restrict parking access.
“Mayor Mamdani should be grateful to our brave law enforcement officers for cleaning up the streets of NYC since he won’t,” the spokesperson said. “Luckily, no terminated parking will stop ICE from deporting criminal illegal aliens to make New York safe again.”
Not the First Such Effort
New York’s push is not without precedent. In August, Democratic officials in Boston moved to bar ICE from renting or purchasing parking space for its vehicles, even though the agency does not operate a facility within the city.
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